Many residents of Dili, where gangs of machete-wielding youths have clashed and set dozens of fires despite the presence of hundreds of foreign peacekeepers, have taken refuge in churches, community centers and with relatives outside the city in recent days.

Kym Smithies, a spokeswoman for some 30 private aid groups operating in East Timor, said the number of displaced people exceeded 100,000.

"We are estimating that upward of 70,000 people are in camps in Dili alone," Smithies told The Associated Press.

An additional 30,000 have fled the city altogether, she said.

An estimated 3,000 women in camps are pregnant, Smithies said.

New camps were forming as people continued to flee their homes, she said.

Meanwhile,East Timor's president and prime minister appeared to be at odds yesterday over who controls the security forces in the violence-wracked country.

President Xanana Gusmao announced on Tuesday that he had assumed emergency powers and taken "sole responsibility" for defence and national security in a bit to stem the unrest, which began with a rebellion by disgruntled soldiers and police and degenerated into a conflict between rival ethnic groups.

But Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, whose policies are blamed by many for the breakdown in law and order, disputed Gusmao's version, insisting he still had a voice in security matters.

"Defence and security are still part of the government and I am the head of the government," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.